Honours

Tony Wright: To ask the Prime Minister how many recipients of each category of award in the honours system there were in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Tony Blair: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain the information would incur disproportionate costs. Details of awards made by regions over the last five years were published in Sir Hayden Phillips' Review of the Honours System (2004), copies of which are available in the Library.

Iran

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the oral answer of 9 February 2005, Official Report, column 1496 to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn), what diplomatic means of engagement he has pursued with the Government of Iran since 9 February in respect of (a) the security of Iran, (b) the Iranian perception of the security of Iran, (c) Iran's relations with the United States and (d) the alleged development of nuclear weapons by Iran.

Tony Blair: Our policy towards Iran is one of critical and conditional engagement. The UK, France and Germany (the "E3"), with European Union representatives, are engaged in a dialogue with Iran aimed at agreeing long-term arrangements for Iran's nuclear programme. These are intended to provide objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes. Working groups on political/security issues and nuclear issues met in Geneva on 9 February and 10–11 February respectively. A working group on technology/co-operation met on 8 February. Relations between Iran and the United States are a matter for those two countries.

Security Situation

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the security situation in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier to the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay).

Census

Mr. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assurances of confidentiality were given on the decennial population census for Northern Ireland in 2001.

Ian Pearson: The following statement appeared on the cover of the 2001 census form.
	"The information you provide is protected by law and treated in strict confidence. The information is only used for statistical purposes, and anyone using or disclosing census information improperly will be liable to prosecution. Census forms will be held securely under the terms of the Public Records Act (Northern Ireland) 1923."
	Publicity material for the 2001 Census also stated that
	"by law the census form and the information it contains is kept secret and cannot be divulged to anyone."

EU Grants

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what procedures are in place in his Department to ensure that EU regional development grants are used in accordance with the European Commission rules.

Ian Pearson: In Northern Ireland EU structural funds expenditure must comply with the requirements of the procedural guide "Government Accounting in Northern Ireland" (GANI) and EU regulations guidance on European Commission rules contained in the EU structural funds operating manual for Northern Ireland.
	Compliance is ensured through a system of both management (Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No. 438/2001) checks that must be carried out on all projects and a system of a minimum of a 5 per cent. sample check (Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 438/2001). Certifying bodies must satisfy themselves that these checks have been carried out before making claims to the Commission (Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 438/2001). EU expenditure is also subject to internal audit and the Northern Ireland Audit Office reviews.

Health Trusts

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed by each of the health trusts covering (a) North Belfast and (b) West Belfast, broken down by (i) gender and (ii) religion and community background.

Angela Smith: Information requested is provided in the following tables.
	
		Staff employed by each of the health and social services trusts covering North and West Belfast by (i) gender as atFebruary 2005 Headcount
		
			 Health and social service trust Male Female Total 
		
		
			 Homefirst (Whiteabbey Hospital) 15 152 167 
			 Mater Infirmorum 324 987 1,311 
			 North and West Belfast 631 3,043 3,674 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals 1,667 5,170 6,837 
			 Total 2,637 9,352 11,989 
		
	
	
		Staff employed by each of the health and social services trusts covering (a) North Belfast and (b) West Belfast by (ii) religion and community background as at February 2005 Headcount
		
			 Health and social services trust Protestant Roman Catholic Other/not stated /unknown Total 
		
		
			 Homefirst  (Whiteabbey Hospital) 108 47 12 167 
			 Mater Infirmorum 412 738 161 1,311 
			 North and West Belfast 1,458 1,998 218 3,674 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals 2,494 3,999 344 6,837 
			 Total 4,472 6,782 735 11,989

Parking

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on (a) provision of parking spaces for civil servants and (b) parking tickets and penalties incurred by civil servants in the Department in each year since 1997.

Paul Murphy: The information is not held in the format requested by the hon. Member.
	The Northern Ireland Office (excluding its agencies and NDPBs) has spent the following on:
	(a) Provision of parking spaces for civil servants
	Between 1997–98 and 1999–2000 the cost of parking spaces was captured under the expense code "property rental" and is not separately identifiable.
	In 2000–01 the expense codes were amended so that the cost of parking spaces could be identified separately. The costs from 2000–01 to 2003–04 are provided as follows.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Cost of parking spaces 
		
		
			 2000–01 106,357 
			 2001–02 152,616 
			 2002–03 187,416 
			 2003–04 196,633 
		
	
	(b) Parking tickets and penalties incurred by civil servants
	The amount spent on parking tickets and penalties cannot be identified separately as these costs are all captured under "other travel costs".

Regional Rate

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the percentage change in the regional rate in Northern Ireland was in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: The following table gives the percentage increase in the domestic and the non-domestic regional rates from the 2000–01 financial year.
	Between 2000–01 and 2004–05 the average household rate bill increased from £394 to £509, an increase of £115. The average increase for England for this period was £270.
	
		Regional rate percentage increases Percentage
		
			  Domestic regional rate increase Non-domestic regional rate increase 
		
		
			 2000–01 8.0 4.6 
			 2001–02 7.0 3.3 
			 2002–03 7.0 3.3 
			 2003–04 6.0 3.3 
			 2004–05 8.8 3.3

Waiting Lists/Times

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people normally resident in Northern Ireland have been assessed and accepted for (a) heart, (b) lung and (c) heart and lung transplant waiting lists in each of the last three years; how many have received transplants; and how many have died whilst waiting for transplantation.

Angela Smith: Information on the number of people normally resident in Northern Ireland who have been assessed and accepted for heart, lung and heart and lung transplant waiting lists and the number of people who have died whilst waiting for heart, lung and heart and lung transplantation in each of the last three years is not available.
	Information on the number of people normally resident in Northern Ireland who have received heart, lung and heart and lung transplants in each of the last three years is provided in the following table:
	
		Number who received transplants
		
			  1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004 
		
		
			 (a) Heart transplants 4 2 8 
			 (b) Lung transplants 3 3 1 
			 (c) Combined heart  and lung transplants — 1 2

Common Agricultural Policy (Africa)

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on agricultural markets in Africa.

Hilary Benn: The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in its current form, impacts on agricultural markets in Africa by increasing world supply, thus lowering world prices; by artificially raising EU prices; by heavily subsidising exports; by undermining world price stability and by limiting access to our markets through the use of high import tariffs.
	This imposes high costs on developing countries. Empirical research has shown that amongst rich countries, the EU is responsible for the biggest costs to developing country farmers. Reform of the CAP could increase developing countries' food and farming income by $7.5 billion per year, which could significantly reduce poverty for those producers in Africa.
	DFID and the UK are committed to reform of the CAP in order to facilitate freer and fairer agricultural trade between developing countries, including in Africa, and the EU. This issue is being analysed in the Commission for Africa Report, expected in March 2005.
	DFID will continue to press for reforms on the EU side including by weakening the link between EU farm support and domestic production to discourage over production (which lowers the world market price), and providing better market access by reducing tariffs and will also continue to build supply-side capacity of agricultural producers including infrastructure and technological development to improve quality and competitiveness of African products.

Pupil-teacher ratios (York)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average pupil-to-teacher ratio in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in York was in each year since 1996–97.

Stephen Twigg: The following table provides pupil and staff information for maintained primary and secondary schools in the City of York constituency in each January from 1997 to 2004, the latest information available.
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools(1) Maintained secondary schools(1) 
			  Pupil:teacher ratio(2) Pupil:adult ratio(3) Pupil:teacher ratio(2) Pupil:adult ratio(3) 
		
		
			 2004 21.8 14.4 16.0 12.3 
			 2003 21.6 14.9 15.9 13.0 
			 2002 21.7 15.3 16.1 13.1 
			 2001 22.8 17.0 16.7 14.3 
			 2000 22.9 18.0 16.5 14.4 
			 1999 23.1 18.5 16.5 14.9 
			 1998 24.4 19.8 16.2 14.3 
			 1997 23.8 20.2 16.1 14.4 
		
	
	(1) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	2 Based on the full-time equivalent of qualified teachers.
	3 Based on the full-time equivalent of all teaching and support staff (excluding administration and clerical staff).
	Source:
	Annual School Census

Climate Change

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to (a) encourage environmental protection and (b) reduce the UK's contribution to climate change.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 21 February 2005
	Defra's five year strategy, "Delivering the Essentials of Life" was published in December 2004 and sets out the Department's approach to environmental protection and sustainable development.
	The UK remains on course to achieve its Kyoto target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. below base year levels by 2008–12.
	The Government recognises that measures in addition to those contained in the UK Climate Change Programme published in 2000 will be needed to achieve the domestic goal of a 20 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions below 1990 levels by 2010.
	The current review of the UK Climate Change Programme will give the opportunity for the Government to look carefully at whether to introduce new policies and measures, and/or strengthen existing ones. The review will also consider the action that the UK will need to take to ensure it is on course to make "real progress by 2020" towards the ambitious longer-term goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2050, as set out in the Energy White Paper (2003).

Environmental Protection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking in the West Midlands to protect the environment.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 21 February 2005
	A wide range of regional activities on the environment are co-ordinated and prioritised through the West Midlands Regional Assembly's Regional Environmental Partnership, to which many of Defra's agencies actively contribute. Although only formed recently, it is currently considering a number of sectors, including waste, energy, biodiversity, urban design, Water Framework Directive, area-based approaches, etc. This group also contributes to the implementation and review of the Regional Spatial Strategy.
	The work of individual agencies is very varied, but includes the following:
	Environment Agency
	The priorities of the Environment Agency are set out in its corporate strategy, entitled "Making it happen". They are as follows:
	An enhanced environment for wildlife
	Cleaner air for everyone
	Improved and protected inland and coastal waters
	Restored, protected land with healthier soils
	A "greener" business world
	Wiser, sustainable use of natural resources
	Limiting and adapting to climate change
	Reducing flood risk
	English Nature
	(i) Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI): There are 439 SSSI in the West Midlands region and currently 65 per cent. are either in favourable or recovering management condition. Only around 5 per cent. have been classified as declining in management condition. In some cases improvements in management condition are secured by English Nature through management agreements under its Wildlife Enhancement Scheme and in others by the Rural Development Service through agri-environment schemes. On other sites improved management has been achieved with support from the Heritage Lottery fund, for example at Cannock Chase and Sutton Park under the Tomorrow's Heathland Heritage initiative.
	One major outstanding issue which relates to the condition of river and other wetland SSSIs is diffuse pollution, invariably from agricultural sources. Under the Modernising Rural Delivery Programme a specific pilot scheme is now underway to tackle diffuse pollution issues on the river Teme through collaborative working among both relevant agencies including the Integrated Agency confederation and the Environment Agency together with local individuals and groups.
	(ii) Biodiversity: The Government is supporting the co-ordination the of six Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) Partnerships operating in the West Midlands and the delivery of specific nature conservation actions for a selection of each area's most threatened habitats and species. This ranges from restoration of lowland heathland in Staffordshire and Worcestershire to the survival of water voles in Birmingham and Herefordshire. The region's Biodiversity Strategy (to be launched March 2005), and the associated regional biodiversity audit and regional habitats targets work, has derived from strong Government engagement with and facilitation of partnership outputs. The ODPM's Regional Planning Guidance (June 2004) incorporates policy intent to achieve effective protection and measurable gains in the conservation status of 23 priority habitats by 2010.
	England Rural Development Programme (ERDP)
	The Rural Development Service, through its West Midlands offices, operates a range of agri-environment schemes as part of the ERDP. Expenditure under these in 2003–04 was as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Countryside Stewardship Scheme 5,878 
			 Environmentally Sensitive Areas 3,491 
			 Organic Farming Scheme 1,330 
		
	
	The new Environmental Stewardship scheme will shortly be introduced, and will replace the above schemes. It will address these issues:
	biodiversity
	maintenance, enhancement and protection of landscape quality and character
	protection of the historic environment
	natural resource protection
	promotion of public access (HLS only)
	genetic conservation
	flood protection
	Protected landscapes
	There are five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty wholly or partly within the region:
	Cannock Chase
	Cotswold Hills (part)
	Malvern Hills
	Shropshire Hills
	Wye Valley (part).
	The Peak District National Park lies partly within the West Midlands but is administered from the East Midlands.
	These organisations co-ordinate their activity through the West Midlands Protected Landscape Forum, led by the Countryside Agency.
	Forestry Commission
	The Forestry Commission recently led a partnership to produce a Regional Forestry Framework. An action plan for the region is currently being developed.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress of the Directive on water intended for human consumption met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Committee did not meet between 1 July 2003 and 31 December 2004.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the (i) Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the Directive on bathing water, (ii) Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the Directive on the quality of fresh water needing protection or improvement in order to support fish life and (iii) Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the Decision establishing a common procedure for the exchange of information on the quality of surface fresh water in the Community met; when and where each meeting took place; what UK Government expert was present at each meeting; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: None of these Committees met during these three presidencies.

Leigh Guided Busway

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much City of York Council has received in (a) block grant and (b) specific grants for transport purposes in each year since it became a unitary authority; and if he will make a statement on investment in public transport in York.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has approved nearly £34 million of block grant to City of York council for transport capital between April 1996 and March 2005. Of this £34 million, £7.724 million was for maintenance and £26.151 million for integrated transport improvements. Also £3.239 million was provided for the B1228 Peasholme Bridge scheme, along with a further £1.06 million in targeted bus grants. The annual amounts of funding are listed in the following table.
	The investment in public transport made in York has contributed towards a substantial increase in bus patronage—up by nearly a quarter in three years—and the development of a high quality set of park and ride services. The Department designated the council as a centre of excellence for transport planning (specifically for cycling and park and ride) back in 2001. It has recently invited the council to apply to be a centre of excellence for local transport delivery. This recognises the council's proven track record in delivering transport improvements on the ground.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 City of York Nature of Funding 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 Capital maintenance 0.306 0.435 0.378 0.900 0.712 
			 Integrated block 0.772 0.880 0.770 1.195 1.550 
			 Major schemes(3) 2.262 0.977 0 0 0 
			 Targeted bus grants (2) n/a n/a 0.250 0.070 0.310 
			 Total 3.34 2.292 1.398 2.165 2.572 
		
	
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Capital Maintenance 1.095 1.155 1.281 1.462 
			 Integrated Block 4.900 5.000 6.600 4.484 
			 Major Schemes(3) 0 0 0 0 
			 Targeted Bus Grants(2) 0.090 0.110 0.110 0.120 
			 Total 6.085 6.265 7.991 6.066 
		
	
	n/a=Not available.
	(2) Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, and Bus Challenge funding.
	(3) Funding for Major Scheme B1228 Peasholme Green Bridge

Sickness Absence

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what initiatives his Department is taking to reduce the numbers of sick days taken by staff in the Department.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department and its Agencies are committed to managing sickness absence effectively and are taking action on the recommendations made in the "Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector" report published in November 2004.
	Initiatives that are being pursued include more robust recording and monitoring of absence levels and reasons for absence, better provision of management information and training for managers, earlier involvement of occupational health advisers and a review of current policies and procedures.

Departmental Policies (Huddersfield)

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement, using statistical information relating as directly as possible to Huddersfield constituency, on the effects on Huddersfield of the working and child tax credits; and what the average change in level of income has been for those receiving the credits in Huddersfield since their introduction.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the total number of families that benefit from tax credits is only available for the United Kingdom as a whole. This information can be found in "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics".
	Information on the number of in-work families receiving tax credits in each constituency appear in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Geographical analyses".
	Both these publications can be found on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm. The estimates are based on a sample of cases and are subject to sampling uncertainty.
	Information on the average change in income for those families that receive tax credits is not available.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Customs Section of the Joint Committee (EEC-Switzerland-Liechtenstein) met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Customs Co-operation Sub-committee EEC-Canada met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The committees are the responsibility of the European Commission. Member states are not involved.

Stamp Duty

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost for 2005–06 of stamp duty relief in designated disadvantaged wards.

Dawn Primarolo: The latest estimate of the amount of disadvantaged area relief forecast to be given in 2004–05 is published at http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax expenditures/table1–5.pdf.
	This estimate will be updated in the Budget 2005 report. An initial forecast for 2005–06 will be published at PBR in the autumn.

Tax Credit (Overpayment)

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases of tax credit overpayments the Inland Revenue has decided in accordance with page 9 of the Code of Practice 26, "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?' not to collect (a) all and (b) part of the overpayment to avoid causing hardship in (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 10 February 2005
	None. However, there are a number of measures to protect against hardship being caused by the recovery of an overpayment.

Homes for All Initiative

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact on house prices of withdrawing previously identified surplus land sites from open market sale for use in the Homes for All initiative.

Keith Hill: Surplus land is not being withdrawn from sale. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's recently published Five Year strategy "Homes for All" makes it clear that much of the surplus public sector land will be used for housing development and to tackle housing shortages including the provision of affordable and key worker homes.
	There are effective arrangements in place to continue to dispose of surplus sites for housing and other uses. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognises that not all sites will be suitable for housing development.
	English Partnerships will handle a proportion of the public sector sites. Where residential development is proposed they will ensure that the land is sold in the open market with a planning framework which will deliver the balance of market and affordable homes that meets Government the local planning requirements. That means ensuring higher design and quality standards are being delivered alongside higher housing numbers bringing a mixture of tenure and prices to the market. This will be delivered through private sector developers.

Nuclear Power

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the papers on nuclear power which officials of her Department prepared as part of the contribution to the Energy White Paper 2003; and if she will place copies in the Library.

Mike O'Brien: The following papers on keeping the nuclear option open (KNOO) were prepared for the DTIs Energy Advisory Panel and contributed to the work on the Energy White Paper:
	KNOO Scoping Paper (EAP 11.06.02-P3)
	KNOO Summary Paper (EAP 01.10.02-P3)
	KNOO Miniprojects
	These papers are now over two years old and some of the information that they contain will be out of date. Nevertheless it is hoped that their release will contribute to the continuing debate on nuclear power as a future energy source in the UK. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	In addition, the long-term costs of nuclear power were covered in the work commissioned by DTI on options for a low carbon economy. The resulting paper "DTI Economics Paper No. 4: Options for a Low Carbon Future—Phase 2" can be viewed on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/whitepaper/phase2.pdf

Cleaners

Simon Hughes: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many cleaners there are in (a) those parts of the Palace of Westminster for which the House is responsible, (b) Portcullis House, (c) 1 Parliament Street, (d) Norman Shaw North and (e) Norman Shaw South; how many of these are (i) full-time and (ii) part-time; and if he will make a statement.

Archy Kirkwood: Cleaners are employed in the House of Commons under contract to the Refreshment Department and the Department of the Serjeant at Arms. In addition the Department of the Serjeant at Arms and the Library employ cleaners who are staff of the House. The numbers are as follows:
	
		
			  Contracted staff Directly employed staff 
			 Building Part-time Full-time Part-time 
		
		
			 Palace of Westminster 36 36 20 
			 Portcullis House 12 11 13 
			 1 Parliament Street 5 5 4 
			 Norman Shaw North 7 1 7 
			 Norman Shaw South 8 — 4 
			 Total 68 53 48 
		
	
	In addition there are three full-time contracted staff and seven part-time directly employed staff whose duties are carried out in a number of House of Commons buildings. It would not be meaningful to attempt to attribute them to any specific area.
	The number of contracted cleaners given as employed in the Palace of Westminster covers those whose duties involve cleaning House of Commons areas only, since some cleaning in the House of Lords is carried out under the same contract.
	I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 2 February 2005, Official Report, columns 910–11W, on the terms of employment of contracted cleaners. I understand that the discussions referred to in that answer on pay rates and other terms and conditions of employment are continuing. The parliamentary authorities are keeping in close touch with developments. I hope that a solution acceptable to all those involved can be reached.
	I would also like to emphasise that the current discussions do not in any way involve those cleaning staff directly employed by the House of Commons Commission.

Detained British Citizens

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries in which British citizens and residents are being (a) lawfully and (b) unlawfully detained at the request of, or in co-operation with, the United States military or intelligence agencies; how many persons are detained in each country; and how many are under 18 years.

Chris Mullin: We are aware of two British nationals being held as security internees by the coalition forces in Iraq. Both are held under the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546.
	We are aware of five British residents currently being detained by the US at Guantanamo Bay.
	None of the above are under the age of 18.

International Criminal Tribunal

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with other EU governments about the transfer of Ante Gotovina to the International Criminal Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia at The Hague.

Denis MacShane: The UK Government shares the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Chief Prosecutor's concerns about the lack of full Croatian co-operation with the ICTY, as reported to the UN Security Council in November 2004. I have had several conversations with EU member governments about the need to encourage Croatia to accept its international responsibility to deliver Ante Gotovina to The Hague as soon as possible, in order that negotiations can begin as planned on 17 March. Statements by successive meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council have upheld this obligation, which I welcome.
	I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Western Isles (Mr. MacDonald) on 3 February 2005, Official Report, column 1105W.

Iraq

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of people killed in Iraq between 20 March 2003 and 4 April 2004, including Iraqis, coalition forces and other nationalities; and what sources he has used in calculating this figure.

Bill Rammell: We have no way of reliably estimating the total number of Iraqi civilians killed between 20 March 2003 and 4 April 2004. I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on this subject of 17 November 2004, Official Report, columns 92–95WS and the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Armed Forces (Mr. Caplin) on 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 541W to the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (Mr. Simpson).
	We understand from the Ministry of Defence that the number of UK service personnel killed between 20 March 2003 and 4 April 2004 is 59. The Ministry of Defence state that they do not keep records of Multi-National or coalition forces killed in Iraq. However, they say that open sources show that 721 Multi-National or coalition forces, including UK service personnel, were killed during that period.

Kurds

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the number of Kurdish people who (a) migrated from the northern part of Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime to (i) Iran, (ii) Turkey, (iii) Syria and (iv) other countries and (b) have migrated to the northern part of Iraq since the end of the Saddam Hussein regime from (A) Iran, (B) Turkey, (C) Syria and (D) other countries; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have asked our posts in the relevant countries, and UKDel Geneva, to obtain the information requested from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). It has become clear from the information received that the available figures are incomplete. Furthermore, the categories used to collect data vary from country to country, making it extremely difficult to collate comparable statistics. In many cases, the figures for the ethnic background of refugees are unreliable and the Kurdish element in the overall total for refugees from Iraq is not identified. To obtain further information would involve our posts making extensive inquiries and commissioning specific research which could be compiled only at disproportionate cost. The information that we have obtained is set out as follows.
	In Iran, in early 2003, before the "mainly" spontaneous repatriation movement, the UNHCR estimates that there were 63,000 camp based and identified non-camp based Iraqi Kurdish refugees. The UNHCR estimates that there are currently 20,000 Iraqi Kurds still in Iran. The UNHCR estimates that there are also some 8,000 Faili Iraqi Kurds in Iran. Some of these are included in the overall number of Iraqi Kurds.
	In Syria, the largest single influx of Iraqi refugees occurred in 1991, when about 8,000 persons, mainly Kurds, arrived. There are currently 234 Kurds registered with the UNHCR office in Damascus.
	In Turkey, the UNHCRs active caseload of Iraqi refugees and asylum-seekers totals 1,576 persons, of whom 227 (14.4 per cent.) are ethnic Kurds. The UNHCR in Turkey has also registered 1,146 Iranian refugees who previously resided in Iraq for varying periods. These refugees are ethnic Kurds who entered Turkey between 2001 and 2003, prior to the onset of hostilities.

Nepal

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he, (b) members of his Department and (c) representatives of the UK Government have had with (i) members and (ii) representatives of the (A) Government and (B) royal family of Nepal regarding the whereabouts of Krishna Pahadi, founding chairman of the Human Rights and Peace Society of Nepal; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: In an audience with the King on 8 February, our ambassador in Nepal raised our concerns about the suspension of civil liberties and called for the immediate release of all political and human rights detainees. In my statement of 1 February, I expressed the UK Government's grave concerns about the situation in Nepal and called for the immediate restitution of multi-party democracy. We understand that Krishna Pahadi was arrested on 9 February and have sought to find out where he is being detained. We will continue to press for the release of all political and human rights detainees.

Nepal

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of people (i) arrested and (ii) detained under house arrest since the dissolution of the Government of Nepal by King Gyanendra on 1 February and (b) how many of these people are members of the (A) Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist Party and (B) People's Front; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: On the information available to us we estimate that around 125 people were arrested following the actions by the King of Nepal on 1 February 2005, of whom nine were detained under house arrest. Because of media and other restrictions, we may not be aware of all those arrested, especially outside Kathmandu. Of the 125, 19 were members of the Unified Marxist Leninist party and one was a member of the United People's Front. A number of those detainees have now been released, although some party leaders still remain in detention.
	Immediately after the takeover of power by the King we issued a statement with our EU partners which expressed our grave concerns about restrictions on liberty and calling for human rights to be respected. Our Ambassador in Kathmandu raised our concerns, including the detention of political leaders, directly with the King in an audience on 8 February. With other EU member states' ambassadors he also raised this with the new Nepalese Foreign Minister on 7 February.

Nepal

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what type of UK military personnel have worked with the Royal Nepalese Army during the past 12 months.

Douglas Alexander: In the past 12 months 20 UK military personnel have visited Nepal to assist and train the Royal Nepalese Army. This includes mechanical, electrical and stores specialists, and one person who attended a mountain warfare course run by the Nepalese military. There have also been some individual visits in relation to the supply of short take-off and landing aircraft to the Government of Nepal.

Freedom of Information

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what involvement he has had in co-ordinating policy across Departments in respect of the answering of requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Alan Milburn: holding answer 21 February 2005
	The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor has the policy lead on the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	I am a member of the Cabinet Committee MISC 28 whose terms of reference are to
	"oversee the Government's strategy of Freedom of Information and the commencement of the Freedom of Information Act 2000".

Access to Work

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up of the (a) Access to Work Scheme, (b) Job Introduction Scheme and (c) New Deal for Disabled People was in each region in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many requests for early entry into (i) other New Deal programmes and (ii) Workstep were received.

Maria Eagle: The available information on the take-up of the Access to Work programme, the Job Introduction Scheme and the New Deal for Disabled People programme is in the tables.
	
		Access to Work—starts to the programme
		
			 Jobcentre Plus region/country New beneficiaries— from April 2003 to March 2004 Existing beneficiaries— on 31 March 2003 Total 
		
		
			 East of England 967 1,289 2,256 
			 East Midlands 1,699 988 2,687 
			 London 1,058 2,207 3,265 
			 North East 750 743 1,493 
			 North West 1,637 2,562 4,199 
			 Scotland 1,475 2,396 3,871 
			 South East 1,546 2,225 3,771 
			 South West 1,695 1,758 3,453 
			 Wales 973 2,537 3,510 
			 West Midlands 1,279 1,426 2,705 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 2,354 1,280 3,634 
			 Total 15,433 19,411 34,844 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. New beneficiary figures relate to people receiving Access to Work assistance for the first time, and data are for the financial year April 2003-March 2004.
	2. Existing beneficiary figures relate to people who were new beneficiaries in a previous financial year and who continued to receive help in the financial year April 2003-March 2004.
	3. Data provided are for the latest complete financial year.
	Source:
	DWP Disability and Rehabilitation Division
	
		Job Introduction Scheme—spend and average numbers helped
		
			 Jobcentre Plus region/country Total spend (£) Average numbers helped 
		
		
			 East of England 60,992 135 
			 East Midlands 41,879 95 
			 London 42,577 95 
			 North East 90,356 200 
			 North West 63,503 140 
			 Scotland 98,346 220 
			 South East 103,971 230 
			 South West 82,931 185 
			 Wales 93,914 210 
			 West Midlands 125,915 280 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 90,370 200 
			 Total 894,755 1,990 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Information on numbers of people starting the Job Introduction Scheme is not
	collected. Figures for numbers helped through the Job Introduction Scheme are based on a Job Introduction Scheme participant spending an average period of six weeks on the programme at a cost of £75 per week.
	2. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
	3. Average numbers helped figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	Source:
	DWP Disability and Rehabilitation Division
	
		New Deal for Disabled People—registrations withNew Deal for Disabled People Job Brokers
		
			 Jobcentre Plus region/country Number of registrations 
		
		
			 Scotland 5,110 
			 North East 5,770 
			 North West 6,780 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 3,640 
			 Wales 6,900 
			 West Midlands 3,390 
			 East Midlands 2,440 
			 East of England 1,900 
			 South East 3,160 
			 London 3,850 
			 Great Britain 49,850 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data are latest available information and relates to the total number of registrations in the period October 2003 to September 2004.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and total may not sum due to rounding.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate
	There is no early entry criteria for the New Deal 50 plus programme and all entrants must have been in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit for six months. People joining New Deal for Disabled People can have immediate entry as long as they are in receipt of a qualifying benefit. People joining New Deal for Partners can have immediate entry to the programme as soon as their partner makes a claim for a qualifying benefit. All single parents with a youngest child under the age of 16, who are not working, or working less than 16 hours a week, can join New Deal for Lone Parents immediately.
	There are a range of eligibility criteria for entry onto the Workstep programme. However, when a person does not meet the criteria, discretionary decisions can be made to enable early entry to take place. Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004, a total of 59 discretionary decision applications were received by Jobcentre Plus, of which 54 were accepted. Between 1 April 2004 and 31 December 2004, a total of 115 discretionary decision applications were received, of which 109 were accepted.
	Information on early entrants to the New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus programmes is in the table.
	
		Early entrants to New Deal for Young People andNew Deal 25 plus
		
			  New Deal for Young People New Deal 25 plus 
		
		
			 Total starts 160,660 95,820 
			 of which:   
			 Early entrants 29,590 20,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data refer to the period October 2003-September 2004—latest available figures.
	2. Figures refer to total starts and could include people who have started these programmes more than once.
	Source:
	New Deal Database, DWP Information Directorate

Incapacity Benefit

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who received incapacity benefit had a net benefit receipt of (a) zero and (b) less than £20 a week after assessment with other means-tested benefits in the last period for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
	
		Working age claimants of incapacity benefit (IB) or severe disablement allowance (SDA) by amount of income support received: August 2004 Number
		
			  All IB/SDA claimants IB/SDA claimants not also in receipt of income support IB/SDA claimants also in receipt of income support 
		
		
			 All IB/SDA  claimants 2,661,000 1,390,300 1,270,700 
			 
			 Weekly amount of income support 
			 Zero 1,390,300 1,390,300 n/a 
			 £0.01 to £19.99 167,800 n/a 167,800 
			 £20 and over 1,102.9 n/a 1,102,900 
		
	
	n/a=Not applicable.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding
	2. Working age claimants are men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. Working Age Client Group sample.
	
		Housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB) recipients also claiming incapacity benefit (IB) or severe disability allowance (SDA) by weekly amount of HB/CTB, and whether or not income support is also in payment: May 2003 Number
		
			  All IB/SDA claimants also in receipt of HB/CTB IB/SDA claimants also in receipt of HB/CTB but not also in receipt of income support IB/SDA claimants also in receipt of HB/CTB and also in receipt of income support 
		
		
			 All IB/SDA claimants also in receipt of  HB/CTB 670,000 280,000 390,000 
			 
			 Weekly amount of HB/CTB 
			 £0.01 to £19.99 150,000 60,000 90,000 
			 £20 and over 510,000 220,000 290,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten thousand. The totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. The figures are based on a one per cent sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	3. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	4. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
	5. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
	6. All overlaps between HB and CTB recipients have been removed.
	Source:
	Housing benefit and council tax benefit management information system, annual one per cent sample, taken in May 2003.

Incapacity Benefit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list other benefits available to incapacity benefit recipients; and what changes there have been in recipient numbers of each benefit in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The key benefits available to incapacity benefit claimants are income support, disability living allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit. The information on the total numbers receiving these benefits is in the table.
	
		Income support, disability living allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit caseloads in Great Britain, 2000–04(at May each year)
		
			 As at May: Income support Disability living allowance Housing benefit Council tax benefit 
		
		
			 2000 3,810,500 2,130,500 4,033,300 4,830,100 
			 2001 3,927,900 2,240,500 3,874,400 4,673,400 
			 2002 3,929,800 2,353,500 3,812,600 4,601,700 
			 2003 3,982,200 2,475,000 3,796,400 4,627,800 
			 2004 2,171,500 2,585,800 3,879,400 4,800,200 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	3. From November 2003 income support figures are severely affected by the introduction of pension credit, which replaced minimum income guarantee on 6 October 2003. Pension credit cases are not included in the figures in the table.
	4. Disability living allowance figures are adjusted to take out late terminations.
	5. Housing benefit and council tax benefit figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	6. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
	7. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in May 2000 to 2004.

Incapacity Benefit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people left incapacity benefit, broken down by destination, in the last period for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the following table.
	
		All incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance terminations in the quarter ending 31 August 2004, by reason for termination
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 All terminations 125,300 
			   
			 Closed certificate 35,700 
			 Death of claimant 7,100 
			 Retirement pension award 16,700 
			 At request of claimant 15,200 
			 Did not attend medical 8,500 
			 Did not return questionnaire 3,700 
			 Failed own occupation test 800 
			 Failed personal capability assessment 27,600 
			 Return to work and also applied for 52-week linking 6,600 
			 Other reason 3,300 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Figures include all incapacity benefit, severe disability allowance and credits-only cases.
	3. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total incapacity benefit only terminations for August 2003 increased by 34 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample.

Income-related Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the budget has been for (a) income support, (b) the disability premium, (c) incapacity benefit and (d) other income-related benefits in each of the past five years.

Chris Pond: The available information is in the following table.
	
		Benefit expenditure in real terms, 2004–05 prices £ million
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Income support for people aged under 60 9,346 10,044 10,434 10,239 10,369 
			 Of which:  
			 With a disability premium 4,057 4,398 4,701 4,563 4,719 
			 Income support/minimum income guarantee/pension credit for people aged 60 and over 4,256 4,557 4,868 4,708 4,896 
			 Incapacity benefit 7,644 7,530 7,324 7,095 6,861 
			 Jobseeker's allowance (income-based) 3,148 2,710 2,318 2,210 2,091 
			 Housing benefit and discretionary housing payments 12,457 12,426 12,577 13,268 12,722 
			 Council tax benefit 2,827 2,865 2,914 2,975 3,342 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest million pound.
	2. Figures quoted for 1999–2000 to 2002–03 are actual outturn and those quoted 2003–04 are estimated outturn.
	3. Income support expenditure has been provided separately for people aged under 60 and people aged 60 and over. Expenditure for those aged 60 and over includes minimum income guarantee and pension credit.
	4. It is not possible to accurately state expenditure on the disability premium paid within income support. Rather than make any assumptions about the level of disability premium expenditure, all expenditure on people who receive a disability premium has been included.
	5. Incapacity benefit is not an income-related benefit.
	Source: DWP expenditure tables.

Income-related Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of income support with disability premium left the benefit, broken down by destination, in the last period for which figures are available.

Chris Pond: The information is in the table.
	
		Terminations of income support (IS) with disability-premium (DP) claimants between 1 December 2003 to 29 February 2004
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 All IS DP terminations in period 44,800 
			 Moved to jobseekers allowance within 91 days of termination 4,000 
			 Moved to IS and/or incapacity benefit within 91 days of termination 10,400 
			 Moved to pension credit within 91 days of termination 6,700 
			 Other destination 23,700 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and are subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	3. Only the first destination has been taken into account. The claimant may have had more than one benefit claim to one or more benefits within the 91 day period. However we have recorded their first claim only.
	4. Other destinations are all claimants who have not had a claim to jobseekers allowance, income support, incapacity benefit or pension credit within 91 days of their IS DP claim terminating. They may have returned to one of these benefits at a later date, received another benefit, started employment, died, or left income support for an unknown reason.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. "Terminations' dataset

Pathways to Work

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on the Pathways to Work Programme since it was created; what his estimated expenditure on these pilots is for the next three years; and what the cost has been (a) per client and (b) per incapacity benefit claimant in the relevant area.

Maria Eagle: The information concerning expenditure is in the tables.
	
		Expenditure on Pathway to Work pilots
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Jobcentre Plus services 16,252,190 
			 Customer payments 6,154,550 
			 Other categories of payment 24,586,450 
			 Total 46,993,190 
		
	
	Note:
	1. The figure for Jobcentre Plus services is actual spend. The figures shown for customer payments and other categories are estimated. These estimates are based on the anticipated volume of customers who will access the various elements of provision and the average cost of that provision.
	Source:
	DWP administrative data.
	
		Estimated expenditure on Pathway to Work pilots over the next three years
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2005–06 84,300,000 
			 2006–07 148,800,000 
			 2007–08 165,900,000 
		
	
	Note:
	These estimates are based on the anticipated volume of customers who will access the various elements of provision and the average cost of that provision.
	As the pilots are still at a relatively early stage it is not possible to give a meaningful figure for the average cost per client or per incapacity benefit claimant in the relevant area. This is because there will be a disproportionate number of customers in the early stages of the pilot (compared to the steady state) and because early figures include an element of start-up costs.

New Deal

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of people who entered the new deal for (a) young people and (b) partners have found sustained employment since each programme was launched (i) in total and (ii) broken down by constituency.

Jane Kennedy: The new deal has been successful in helping more than 1.2 million people into work and new deal for young people has contributed to this success by helping more than half a million young people into employment.
	People who return to jobseeker's allowance after finding a job through the new deal have added to their skills and experience, making it easier for them to find a job in the future. In addition, when they re-enter the new deal, people move into work sooner than they did the first time they were on the programme because they have recent experience of work, and have more jobsearch skills.
	Between April 1999 and March 2004, 7,820 people started the new deal for partners programme, of which 1,870 people have gained a job. Information on new deal for partners is not available at constituency level. A measure of sustainability is not available for new deal for partners.
	The available information has been placed in the Library.

Judicial Appointments

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time judicial officer appointments have been made in each year since 1975.

David Lammy: pursuant to the reply, 9 February 2005, Official Report, c. 1609W
	I listed incorrect figures in tables 1A, 1B and 2. The amendments are now underlined in tables 1A, 1B and 2 as follows.
	Table 2 is also amended to clearly show the separate figures for the Lord Chancellor's appointment of lay magistrates (excluding the Duchy of Lancaster) and appointments made in the Duchy of Lancaster (for which the Lord Chancellor does not appoint).
	Tables 1A and 1B show full-time appointments for the calendar years 1975–1997. The figures include appointments of Judicial officers to full-time Tribunal posts for Tribunals administered by DCA (formerly Lord Chancellor's Department) but exclude those administered by other Government Departments (such as the Employment Tribunal and The Appeal Service and its pre 1999 predecessor The Independent Tribunal Service). These tables also include lay magistrates appointments from 1990 onwards.
	The figures for the early years are drawn from very old records and as such cannot be verified as one hundred per cent. correct.
	
		Table 1A: 1975 to 1984
		
			  Full-time appointments 
		
		
			 1975 45 
			 1976 46 
			 1977 43 
			 1978 57 
			 1979 39 
			 1980 65 
			 1981 41 
			 1982 53 
			 1983 48 
			 1984 62 
		
	
	
		Table 1B: 1985 to 1994 Full-time and Lay Magistrates appointments
		
			  Full-time Lay magistrates 
		
		
			 1985 53 n/a 
			 1986 82 n/a 
			 1987 54 n/a 
			 1988 60 n/a 
			 1989 54 n/a 
			 1990 55 2,059 
			 1991 92 2,017 
			 1992 120 2,070 
			 1993 127 2,062 
			 1994 91 1,593 
			 1995 110 1,843 
			 1996 100 1,682 
			 1997 66 1,573 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.
	
		Table 2: 1998–99 to 2003–04 Full-time, part-time (fee paid) and Lay Magistrates appointments
		
			  1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Full-time 148 95 198 125 156 126 
			 Part-time 486 369 555 790 541 354 
			 Total 634 464 753 915 697 480 
			
			 Lay magistrates:   
			 Lord Chancellor Appointments 1,278 1,423 1,366 1,474 1,410 1,478 
			 Appointments in the Duchy of Lancaster n/a n/a 252 312 213 280 
			 Total 1,278 1,423 1,618 1,786 1,623 1,758 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.

Chorley Hospital

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many babies were born at Chorley Hospital in each of the last three years; and how many mothers and babies transferred to Chorley after childbirth at Preston in the last period for which figures are available.

Melanie Johnson: The numbers of live-births occurring in Chorley and District Hospital in 2001 to 2003 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001 252 
			 2002 210 
			 2003 229 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics.
	Information about the transfer of mothers and babies to a specific hospital is not collected centrally.

Dentistry

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) adults and (b) children are registered with dentists (i) operating under General Dental Service contracts, (ii) operating under Personal Dental Service contracts and (iii) in total.

Rosie Winterton: The table shows the percentage of adults and children registered with dentists operating under general dental service (GDS) contracts, operating under personal dental service (PDS) contracts and the total. These figures are for England as of 31 December 2004.
	
		
			   Registered with dentist 
			  Population (Million) Number (Million) Percentage 
		
		
			 Adult
			 GDS 38.8 13.8 36 
			 PDS 38.8 3.1 8 
			 Total 38.8 16.9 44 
			 Children
			 GDS 11.1 5.7 51 
			 PDS 11.1 1.1 10 
			 Total 11.1 6.8 61 
			 Total(3) adults and children 
			 GDS 49.9 19.5 39 
			 PDS 49.9 4.2 8 
			 Total 49.9 23.7 47 
		
	
	(3) Figures for total registrations regardless of age

Dentists

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will list the names and addresses of the dentists in Kent still accepting new NHS patients;
	(2)  if he will list the dentists in Kent that have closed their lists to NHS patients during the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 February 2005
	Under the Data Protection Act, we are not able to receive or pass on details relating to individual dentists.
	The following table shows primary care trusts (PCTs) in the county of Kent, which are wholly or partially accepting the registration of new patients. Further information, including the addresses of dental practices, which are accepting national health service patients is available at www.nhs.uk. Information is not available centrally on individual dentists that have closed their lists to NHS patients.
	
		
			 PCTs Total practices in PCT Registering children aged 0 to 18 years for NHS treatment Registering charge exempt adults for NHS treatment Registering charge paying adults for NHS treatment 
		
		
			 5CM—Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley 33 16 15 8 
			 5FF—South West Kent 43 17 6 6 
			 5L2—Maidstone Weald 43 16 2 2 
			 5L3—Medway 40 24 17 12 
			 5L4—Swale 14 4 5 3 
			 5LL—Ashford 17 4 1 — 
			 5LM—Canterbury and Coastal 30 6 1 — 
			 5LN—East Kent Coastal 37 (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 5LP—Shepway 20 4 2 — 
			 Grand total 277 91 49 31 
		
	
	(4) Not accepting any new NHS patients for treatment.
	Source:
	nhs.uk website
	In 2004, there were 37 "complete leavers" in the county of Kent in the last 12 months, as of 31 December 2004.

Fluoride

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the maximum safe daily intake of fluoride.

Melanie Johnson: There are now known adverse effects on health at fluoride intakes below those causing clinical skeletal fluorosis. This condition appears to require fluoride intakes of at least 10 milligrams daily for at least 10 years. Skeletal fluorosis in the United Kingdom appears to be non-existent—with the exception of a reported case in 1966—see Webb-Peploe MM, Bradley WG (1966): "Endemic fluorosis with neurological complications in a Hampshire man"—Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Vol. 29, pp. 577–584.

Health Expenditure (Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average health expenditure per head of population in Chorley constituency was in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005.

Melanie Johnson: The expenditure per weighted head of population in the South Lancashire health authority (HA) area is shown in the table. It is not possible to provide information on the Chorley constituency area, nor figures for 2005.
	
		South Lancashire HA 
		
			 Period £ per head 
		
		
			 1996–97 609.98 
			 2000–01 779.41 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Expenditure is taken from audited health authority accounts and summarisation forms which are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from cash allocations in the year. The expenditure is the total expenditure accounted for by the health authority. Figures are given in cash terms.
	2. Allocations per weighted head of population provide a much more reliable measure to identify differences between funding of health.
	3. In many HAs, there are factors which distort the expenditure. These include:
	the HA acting in a lead capacity to commission healthcare or fund training on behalf of other health bodies; and
	asset revaluations in national health service trusts being funded through HAs.
	4. The majority of general dental services expenditure is not included in the individual health authority accounts or summarisation forms and is separately accounted for by the Dental Practice Board (DPB). An element of pharmaceutical services expenditure is accounted for by the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) and not by HAs. Total expenditure on these items by the DPB and the PPA cannot be allocated to individual health bodies and are therefore omitted from the answer.
	5. For these reasons expenditure per head cannot be compared reliably between HAs or between different years.
	Sources:
	South Lancashire HA audited accounts 1996–97.
	South Lancashire HA audited summarisation forms 2000–01.
	Weighted population figures 1996–97 and 2000–01.

Health Funding (Huddersfield)

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was allocated to healthcare in the Huddersfield constituency in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004.

Melanie Johnson: In 1997–98, revenue allocations were made to health authorities (HAs). In December 2002, primary care trusts (PCTs) were notified of their revenue allocations for 2003–04 to 2005–06, and the latest round of revenue allocations, covering the period 2006–07 and 2007–08, was announced on 9 February 2005.
	The tables show the revenue allocations made to Calderdale and Kirklees HA for 1997–98, and to those PCTs covered by Calderdale and Kirklees for 2003–04 to 2005–06 and for 2006–07 to 2007–08.
	
		Table 1: Calderdale and Kirklees revenue allocations 1997–98
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Calderdale and Kirklees HA 259,169 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Calderdale and Kirklees revenue allocations 2003–06 -- £000
		
			  Allocation 
			 PCT 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Calderdale 182,246 198,557 215,534 
			 Huddersfield Central 121,658 132,742 144,457 
			 North Kirklees 149,007 163,617 178,807 
			 South Huddersfield 67,967 74,050 80,382 
		
	
	
		Table 3: Calderdale and Kirklees revenue allocations 2006–08 -- £000
		
			  Allocation 
			 PCT 2006–07 2007–08 
		
		
			 Calderdale 254,621 275,396 
			 Huddersfield Central 172,344 186,412 
			 North Kirklees 215,698 236,133 
			 South Huddersfield 97,051 104,967

Medical Devices Agency

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) fatal accidents and (b) adverse incident reports to the Medical Devices Agency there were in each year since 1997; and what the most common causes were.

Rosie Winterton: The information on total numbers of reported medical device related adverse incidents and reported incidents involving a fatality is shown in Table 1.
	
		Table 1: Reported medical device related adverse incidents, 1997–2004
		
			  Total number of reported incidents Reported incidents involving a fatality 
		
		
			 1997 5,383 47 
			 1998 6,298 79 
			 1999 6,610 87 
			 2000 7,249 92 
			 2001 7,896 141 
			 2002 8,756 175 
			 2003 8,795 166 
			 2004 8,840 179 
		
	
	For summary information and reporting purposes, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency groups the causes of medical device related adverse incidents into four categories:
	Before delivery—issues relating to design, manufacture, quality control and/or packaging.
	After delivery—relating to performance and/or maintenance failures and device degradation.
	User error—where the device had not been used in accordance with the instructions for use.
	No established link to device—where (a) the device was found subsequently to work as intended (possibly due to an intermittent fault, tampering, or user error) or (b) it was not available for inspection, or (c) because the report was made on precautionary basis.
	The percentage of incidents falling into each of these categories in 2004 is shown in Table 2.
	
		Table 2: Reported medical device related adverse incidents, 2004
		
			 Cause of incident Percentage(5) of all incident reports (number = 8,840) Percentage(5) of reported incidents involving a fatality (number = 179) 
		
		
			 1. Before delivery 27 11 
			 2. After delivery 29 14 
			 3. User error 17 22 
			 4. No established link to  device 55 75 
		
	
	(5) Figures total more than 100 per cent. as multiple causes have been identified in some reports.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been sectioned under the Mental Health Acts in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) men, (b) women and (c) children.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 7 February 2005
	Information is not available in the requested format. Information on the number of detentions under Parts II, III and X the Mental Health Act 1983 of patients, on admission and subsequent to admission in national health service facilities, including high security psychiatric hospitals, and independent hospitals in England in each of the last ten and eight years (respectively) for which data is available is shown in the tables. Information on the gender of patients detained subsequent to admission to hospital is not collected. Nor is any information distinguishing adults from children.
	Information on the gender of patients detained subsequent to admission and their age groups will be available via the mental health dataset in the future. This will provide local clinicians and mangers with better quality information for clinical audit, and service planning and management.
	
		Number of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 of patients, on admission and subsequent to admission in national health service facilities (including high security psychiatric hospitals), in England, 1993–94 to 2003–04. -- Number
		
			  Total detentions (on admission and subsequent to admission) in NHSDetentions on admission in NHS facilities Detentions subsequent to admission in NHS 
			  facilities Male Female facilities 
		
		
			 2003–04 43,847 13,371 11,419 19,057 
			 2002–03 44,649 13,449 11,617 19,583 
			 2001–02 45,563 12,980 11,510 21,073 
			 2000–01 45,654 13,521 11,662 20,471 
			 1999–2000 45,546 13,536 11,739 20,271 
			 1998–99 46,003 13,679 11,956 20,368 
			 1997–98 43,291 13,096 11,325 18,870 
			 1996–97 40,516 12,358 10,438 17,720 
			 1995–96 41,628 13,099 11,307 17,222 
			 1994–95 40,275 13,054 11,524 15,697 
			 1993–94 37,141 12,179 10,829 14,133 
		
	
	Figures exclude previous legislation (fifth schedule) and other acts.
	A patient may be detained more than once.
	Data on patients detained subsequent to admission were not collected in respect of high security psychiatric hospitals prior to 1996–97.
	Data on patients detained subsequent to admission are not collected by gender.
	Detentions subsequent to admission include changes from Section 136 to Sections 2 and 3.
	
		Number of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 of patients, on admission and subsequent to admission in independent hospitals, in England, 1996–97 to 2003–04. -- Number
		
			  Total detentions (on admission and subsequent to admission) in independentDetentions on admission in independent hospitals Detentions subsequent to admission in independent 
			  hospitals Male Female hospitals 
		
		
			 2003–04 1824 862 536 426 
			 2002–03 1803 844 456 503 
			 2001–02 2180 984 672 524 
			 2000–01 1803 831 562 410 
			 1999–2000 1961 829 577 555 
			 1998–99 1840 761 489 590 
			 1997–98 1445 545 414 486 
			 1996–97 1295 464 431 400 
		
	
	Figures exclude previous legislation (fifth schedule) and other acts.
	A patient may be detained more than once.
	Data on patients detained subsequent to admission were not collected in respect of Independent hospitals prior to 1996–97.
	Data on patients detained subsequent to admission are not collected by gender.
	Detentions subsequent to admission include changes from Section 136 to Sections 2 and 3.

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to support primary care trusts in developing their commissioning capacity in mental health.

Rosie Winterton: "National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/06–2007/08" (2004) sets out the framework for all national health service organisations and social service authorities to use over the next three financial years to take forward the NHS improvement plan.
	The national specialised services mental health definition subset provides guidance to commissioners on securing effective collective planning arrangements that take into account the needs of a planning population considerably larger than that of a single primary care trust (PCT). A group led by the national director for mental health is currently reviewing the subset with a view to publish updated guidance later this year.
	Local health communities should design the provision of their services for the treatment and management of mental health problems according to the standards set in the national service frameworks for mental health (1999), older people (2001) and children, young people and maternity services (2004) and in light of the clinical guidelines and technology appraisals published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
	Further support for PCTs to commission mental health services is provided through the primary care mental health programme led by the London development centre of the National Institute for Mental Health in England. Relevant publications can be obtained from its website at www.nimhe.org.uk.

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to assist those caring for sufferers of mental illness.

Rosie Winterton: The national service framework (NSF) for mental health provides a rationale and evidence base for a national standard for mental health services relating to carers of people with mental health problems. In accordance with the NSF, all individuals who provide regular and substantial care for a person on the care programme approach should have an assessment of their caring, physical and mental health needs repeated on at least an annual basis. People who provide regular and substantial care for a person on the care programme approach are also entitled to have their own written care plan, which is given to them and implemented in discussion with them.
	The Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 strengthens the rights of all carers to an assessment of their own needs as carers. It involves a right to a carer's assessment. It gives local councils mandatory duties to support carers by providing services to carers directly and in the provision of breaks, as well as, directly supporting carers by providing direct payment for carers' services.
	In line with the NHS Plan, mental health provider trusts are recruiting 700 carer support workers to increase the breaks available for carers and to strengthen carer support networks. To consolidate the progress that is being made and to build on good practice and research, the Department published guidance entitled "Developing Services for Carers and Families of People with Mental Illness in 2002".

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of the total number of hospital inpatients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 have appealed to mental health review tribunals since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested. However, information on the number of detentions and applications to mental health review tribunals is shown in the tables.
	
		Number of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 of patients in national health service facilities (including high security psychiatric hospitals) and independent hospitals in England, 1997–98 to 2003–04
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2003–04 45,671 
			 2002–03 46,452 
			 2001–02 47,743 
			 2000–01 47,457 
			 1999–2000 47,507 
			 1998–99 47,843 
			 1997–98 44,736 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures exclude previous legislation (fifth schedule) and other acts.
	2. A patient may be detained more than once.
	3. The data include short-term detentions under section 5 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Patients detained under section 5 cannot make applications to mental health review tribunals.
	
		Number of applications to mental health review tribunals in England, 1997 to 2004 (calendar years)
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2004 21,413 
			 2003 21,634 
			 2002 20,980 
			 2001 20,368 
			 2000 20,421 
			 1999 19,709 
			 1998 18,503 
			 1997 15,687

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England are estimated to be suffering from (a) mild to moderate and (b) severe mental illness.

Rosie Winterton: The Office for National Statistics published a report, "Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households, 2000" in Great Britain. It was found that 164 per 1,000 of the adult population suffered from neurotic disorder, which can be broadly regarded as mild to moderate mental illness. The prevalence rate for probable psychotic disorder was five per 1,000 and for personality disorder 44 per 1,000 of the adult population. These disorders can be regarded as severe mental illness.

NHS Staff

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) graduate primary care workers, (b) gateway workers, (c) support, time and recovery workers, (d) community development workers and (e) carer support workers are currently employed in the NHS.

Rosie Winterton: The requested information is not yet available. Progress on the number of graduate primary care workers, gateway workers, support, time and recovery workers, community development workers and carer support workers employed in the national health service will be available when the Durham adult mental health service mapping is finalised in spring 2005.

NHS Staff

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) hospital, (b) public health medicine and (c) community health service staff were employed in the main NHS staff groups in the Newcastle Primary Care Trust area in (i) 1996, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2004.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. Data for Northumberland Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority, broken down by organisation, is shown in the table.
	
		Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Service (HCHS): medical and dental staff within Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority by organisation—as at 30 September each year -- Number (headcount)
		
			   All medical and dental staff 
			   1996 2001 2003 
		
		
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear  2,231 2,622 2,861 
			 of which: 
			 Cheviot and Wansbeck National Health Service Trust RLK 121 0 0 
			 Gateshead and South Tyneside HA QDG 4 6 0 
			 Gateshead Health NHS Trust RR7 0 213 241 
			 Gateshead Healthcare NHS Trust RM7 31 0 0 
			 Gateshead Hospitals NHS Trust RE2 152 0 0 
			 Gateshead Primary Care Trust (PCT) 5KF 0 0 13 
			 Newcastle and North Tyneside HA QDJ 9 21 0 
			 Newcastle City Health NHS Trust RNM 228 0 0 
			 Newcastle PCT 5D7 0 28 31 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust RTD 0 1,136 1,190 
			 Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health Services NHS Trust RNP 0 150 189 
			 North Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust RLC 151 0 0 
			 North Tyneside PCT 5D8 0 0 13 
			 Northgate and Prudhoe NHS Trust RM6 20 17 23 
			 Northumberland Care Trust TAC 0 0 30 
			 Northumberland Community Health NHS Trust RLM 35 0 0 
			 Northumberland HA QDM 9 4 0 
			 Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust RE8 34 0 0 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear StHA Q09 0 0 20 
			 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust RTF 0 380 408 
			 South of Tyne and Wearside Mental Health NHS Trust RW9 0 0 57 
			 South Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust RE9 94 248 221 
			 South Tyneside PCT 5KG 0 0 10 
			 Sunderland City Hospitals NHS Trust RLN 340 366 406 
			 Sunderland HA QDN 7 10 0 
			 Sunderland Teaching PCT 5KL 0 0 9 
			 The Freeman Group of Hospitals RAB 360 0 0 
			 The Royal Victoria Infirmary and associated Hospitals NHS Trust RCK 609 0 0 
			 Wearside Priority Health Care NHS Trust RLH 27 43 0 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.

Night Care

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) Derbyshire, (b) Leicestershire and (c) the East Riding of Yorkshire receive full or part-time night care at home funded by the local authority.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 21 February 2005
	Information on the number of people receiving full or part-time night care at home is not centrally available.
	The following table shows the number of contact hours of home care occurring out of hours or overnight in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and East Riding during a survey week in September 2003. Some of these hours will be delivered by council employees while others will be delivered by the private and voluntary sector.
	
		Number and rate of contact hours of home care provided out of hours or overnight in September 2003 1 -- Rounded numbers and rates
		
			 Councils with social services responsibilities Out of hours(7) Overnight,(8) live-in(9) and 24 hour services(10) Total 
		
		
			 Number of contact hours 
			 Derbyshire 6,500 11,100 17,600 
			 Leicestershire 6,400 400 6,800 
			 East Riding 500 500 1,000 
			 Contact hours per 10,000 households 
			 Derbyshire 211 358 569 
			 Leicestershire 263 16 279 
			 East Riding 35 38 73 
		
	
	(6) Survey week in September 2003.
	(7) Out of hours: services which are provided outside of the normal working day, but not including night sitting services, live-in or 24 hours services.
	(8) Overnight services: night sitting services carried out on a regular or ad-hoc basis.
	(9) Live-in services: Where the carer lives, either permanently or temporarily, in the home of the client, working for the local authority directly or under contract. It excludes informal carer arrangements with relatives or friends.
	(10) 24 hours services: round the clock care provided by several workers on a shift basis.
	Source:
	HH1, Table 1

Nurse Numbers

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were employed in (a) Sunderland Royal Hospital, (b) Hartlepool University Hospital and (c) Durham University Hospital in each year since 2001.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		National health service hospital and community health services: qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in specified NHS trusts as at 30 September each year -- Headcount
		
			  2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust 1,450 1,475 1,543 
			 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust 1,348 1,214 1,237 
			 County Durham and Darlington Acute  Hospitals NHS Trust n/a n/a 1,946 
			 North Durham Health Care NHS Trust 1,139 890 n/a 
			 South Durham Health Care NHS Trust 1,324 1,004 n/a 
		
	
	n/a = Not applicable.
	Note:
	North Durham Healthcare NHS Trust and South Durham Health Care NHS Trust merged to form County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust on 1 October 2002.
	Source:
	Department of Health non-medical workforce census.

Obesity

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of women were classified as obese in (a) England and (b) each region in each year since 1990, broken down by socio-economic group.

Melanie Johnson: Information is not available in exactly the form requested. Figures available from the health survey for England are shown in the tables. The tables give, for England, the percentage of women who are obese (with a body mass index over 30) from 1991, when the health survey began, to 2003 by social class and for the period 1998 to 2003 by Government office region. Figures prior to 1998 are not available by Government office region. The samples sizes available in the health survey do not allow robust estimates to be calculated for each region broken down by social/economic status.
	
		Prevalence of obesity among women by survey year and social class
		
			  Aged 16 and over with a valid height and weight measurement 
			  Social class of head of household(11) 1991–2003 
			 Women I II IIIN IIIM IV V Total 
		
		
			 Percentage
			 1991–1992(12) 11 15 20 21 16 
			 1993 11 13 13 20 22 24 16 
			 1994 12 14 15 20 22 22 17 
			 1995 12 14 14 20 24 22 17 
			 1996 13 15 16 21 22 27 18 
			 1997 10 15 20 23 26 24 20 
			 1998 15 18 19 24 25 28 21 
			 1999 21 18 21 21 24 31 21 
			 2000 19 17 19 26 26 32 21 
			 2001 14 20 21 27 31 28 23 
			 2002 16 18 22 25 29 35 23 
			 2003 18 19 21 28 29 29 23 
			 Bases
			 1991–1992(12) 1,219 493 912 681 3,430 
			 1993 579 2,210 1,239 2,149 1,106 440 8,037 
			 1994 433 2,000 1,184 2,016 1,168 458 7,884 
			 1995 465 2,112 1,147 1,979 1,056 453 7,729 
			 1996 461 2,255 1,230 2,043 1,135 424 8,064 
			 1997(13) 261 1,160 671 1,100 655 230 4,254 
			 1998 471 2,231 1,193 1,983 1,201 429 7,730 
			 1999(13) 248 1,049 585 1,000 557 157 3,699 
			 2000(13) 198 1,193 654 806 496 189 3,703 
			 2001 412 2,278 1,304 1,710 1,078 386 7,414 
			 2002(13) 244 1,077 614 775 516 178 3,509 
			 2003 456 2,329 1,192 1,581 999 322 7,090 
		
	
	(11) I—Professional, II—Managerial technical, IIIN—Skilled non-manual, IIIM—Skilled manual, IV—Semi-skilled manual, V—Unskilled manual.
	(12) The sample sizes in 1991 and 1992 were smaller than in subsequent years and for reporting purposes the estimates from both years were combined. In addition, the figures for social classes I and II, and IV and V were combined.
	(13) In these years, the focus was on special groups such as children, ethnic minorities and older people. The sample for the special groups was boosted and the sample for the general population correspondingly halved to about 8,000 adults. The figures are based on the general population sample.
	Source:
	Health Survey for England
	
		Prevalence of obesity among women by Government office region: Aged 16 and over with both valid height and weight measurements, 1998 to 2003 -- BMI (kg/m(15))
		
			  Government office regions(14)  
			  North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands East of England London South East South West England 
		
		
			 Women   
			 Percentage   
			 1998 22.9 21.3 21.7 22.1 25.8 21.6 19.5 19.3 19.4 21.2 
			 1999 17.3 21.3 20.0 27.7 22.0 20.1 20.3 17.8 23.1 21.1 
			 2000 22.0 22.7 19.7 24.8 26.3 19.3 21.8 19.4 17.4 21.4 
			 2001 24.9 21.0 25.4 24.9 27.6 23.8 19.9 21.8 24.1 23.5 
			 2002 19.8 24.6 24.0 27.6 25.4 22.1 25.5 19.3 16.6 22.8 
			 2003 24.6 24.7 24.1 24.3 28.3 24.7 20.9 19.5 21.8 23.4 
			 Bases   
			 1998 484 1,082 819 763 671 862 960 1,216 826 7,730 
			 1999 225 530 401 401 381 433 395 551 381 3,699 
			 2000 245 519 437 416 327 414 440 536 368 3,703 
			 2001 494 1,001 800 703 800 865 800 1,132 814 7,414 
			 2002 222 505 387 344 355 390 411 564 331 3,509 
			 2003 468 1,006 667 678 778 825 837 1,119 712 7,090 
		
	
	(14) Figures prior to 1998 not available by Government office region.
	Source:
	Health Survey for England.

Primary Care Trusts

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the spearhead primary care trusts and the constituencies that they cover in the south-west.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 February 2005
	There are no spearhead primary care trusts within the south-west. The spearhead group list consists of the local authority areas that were in the bottom fifth nationally for three or more of the following five factors:
	Male life expectancy at birth,
	Female life expectancy at birth,
	Cancer mortality rate in under 75s,
	Cardio vascular disease mortality rate in under 75s,
	The index of multiple deprivation 2004 (local authority summary), average score.
	Note
	Data for the first four factors is for the period 1995–97.

Residential Care

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the people in residential care in 2002–03 were disabled.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 21 February 2005
	This information is not collected routinely. However, from the 2001 census there were around 304,000 people living in residential care, who reported having a limiting long-term illness. This represents some 94 per cent., of all those living in residential care at the time of the census.

Wells Report

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Wells Report.

Rosie Winterton: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, does not currently intend to publish the Wells Report.

Alcohol-related Disorder

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's strategy for tackling the problems of alcohol-related disorder in towns and city centres.

Hazel Blears: The Government are taking forward work to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder through the Alcohol Harm Reduction Programme. Recent achievements include: the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns which took place over the summer and winter last year, the introduction of new fixed penalty notices for minor alcohol offences from November last year and the launch of the first tranche of the Tackling violent Crime Programme—providing extra help to those areas which have the highest volumes of violent crime. We are also working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to develop guidance for local authorities to help them manage the night-time economy.
	To build on this work, the Government published a consultation document called "Drinking Responsibly" on 21 January 2005 outlining new policy proposals for tackling the problems of alcohol-related disorder. The proposals included: Alcohol Disorder Zones for town and city centres, Drinking Banning Orders, a review of the penalties associated with alcohol-related crimes and new police closure powers for premises selling to under-age children. Replies to the proposals in the consultation paper are due by the 28 February 2005. We will consider all of the responses before making any final decisions on the proposals.

Al-Takfir wa al-Hijra

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the activities in the UK of Al-Takfir wa al-Hijra since January 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: Any information suggesting illegal activity by any individual or group will be investigated by the appropriate authorities. Should anyone have evidence of criminal acts being carried out they should take it to the police in the first instance.

Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will instruct the Visa Correspondence Section of UK Visas to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West, regarding a case involving Qamar Zamanai Mansoori and Fareda Ui-Haz Sadique (Now Fareda Bano).

Chris Mullin: I have been asked to reply.
	UKvisas replied to the hon. Member on 16 December 2004. UKvisas also corresponded by e-mail with the hon. Member's office on 18 January, 1 February and 8 February.

Crime Statistics

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of recorded crimes in (a) the North West and (b) Lancashire in 2004; and what percentage were cleared up.

Hazel Blears: The latest available information on recorded crime and detections for the North West and Lancashire is for 2003–04 and is published in Table 7.04 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/04; a copy of which is available in the Library.

Departmental Polices

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Clwyd, South constituency, the effects on Clwyd, South of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Clwyd, South constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the North Wales Police Force increased by 256 from 1,369 to 1,625. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 21 CSOs on North Wales' streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, North Wales has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 5 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 4 per cent.
	North Wales police will receive £78.0 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 3.76 per cent. (£2.8 million) over 2004–05. North Wales benefits from the decision to provide a funding floor of 3.75 per cent. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, the Force would have received £1.9 million less. General grants funding to North Wales has increased by 28.3 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, North Wales will also receive around £9.5 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour. social behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. For example, nine CCTV projects in the Clwyd, South area (which includes the three Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) of Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire) received a total of £666,835 under the CRP.
	Since 2001, a number of successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and specific projects. These include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001 under these initiatives, a total of £1.97 million has been allocated to the Clwyd, South area. A further £1.42 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the National Assembly for Wales for CSP capacity building across Wales.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In the three Community Safety Partnerships that include Clwyd a total of 11 antisocial behaviour orders are currently in force as of 11 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the futurebuilders fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Polices

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency of his Department's policies since 8 June 2001.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 2001 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Cleveland Police Force increased by 290 from 1,407 to 1,697. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 75 CSOs on Cleveland streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 2001–02 and 2003–04, Cleveland has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 21 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 12 per cent.
	Cleveland Police Force will receive £90.9 million in general grants in 2005–06, an increase of 4.67 per cent. (£4.1 million) over this year. This is significantly higher than the minimum increase of 3.75 per cent. guaranteed to all forces. Cleveland Force also gains £0.2 million from the 2003–04 Amending Report, bringing their overall grant to £91.1 million. General grants funding to Cleveland Police Force has increased by over 14 per cent. between 2001–02 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Cleveland will receive next year around £4.7 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. For example, six CCTV projects in the Middlesbrough CDRP area received a total of £791,179 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £1,290,644 has been allocated to Middlesbrough CDRP under these initiatives. A further £1.45 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the North East for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Middlesbrough set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Middlesbrough a total of 32 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of 1 February 2005. Middlesbrough is also one of 50 communities across the country that have been designated as 'Together Action Areas' and are set to get extra help to tackle antisocial behaviour. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and their policy is set out in the 10 year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the House Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focusing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Middlesbrough has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Middlesbrough Drug Action Team amounted to £2.07 million, rising to £2.78 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency can be obtained from the Middlesbrough Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the 'futurebuilders' fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	To support strong and active communities in which people of all races and backgrounds are valued, the Home Office funded a Community Cohesion Pathfinder in Middlesbrough over 18 months to September 2004. This invested £150,000 via the local authority and £90,000 via voluntary and community sector partners. The Pathfinder focused on young people, education, and sports and cultural activities. Outcomes included a Listening Schools project bring together parents and school staff, inter-faith working, training of young people in community involvement and cultural activities celebrating diversity. A Pathfinder Youth Champions scheme in Middlesbrough also ending September 2004 produced a total of 45 young community champions engaged in the regeneration of their community through project-based activities.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	The Government's Time Ltd. Development Fund (2002 to 2005) has invested £125,538 in Middlesbrough aimed at increasing the number of people involved in community and voluntary activities.
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Polices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as closely as possible to the constituency, the effect of his Department's actions and policies on Blackpool South constituency since (a) 1997 and (b) 2001.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government has put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Blackpool South constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Lancashire Police Force increased by 332 from 3,247 to 3,579. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 117 CSOs on Lancashire streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, Lancashire has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 41 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 39 per cent.
	Lancashire Police Force will receive £190.8 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 4.31 per cent. (£7.9 million) over last year. Lancashire Police also gains around £0.4 million from the Amending Report for 2003–04, bringing the overall increase to 4.52 per cent. General grants funding to Lancashire has increased by 14.5 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2000–01 and by 13.5 per cent. between 2001–01 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Lancashire will also receive £17.4 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The crime reduction programme (CRP) was a pioneering Government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. Two CCTV projects in the Blackpool CDRP area received a total of £666,350 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 crime and disorder reduction partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £1.05 million has been allocated to Blackpool CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.3 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the North West for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Blackpool set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction Website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle anti-social behaviour and nuisance. In Blackpool a total of 20 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of 10 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and its policy is set out in the 10 year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government has invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focussing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Blackpool has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Blackpool Drug Action Team amounted to £1.05 million, rising to £1.53 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Blackpool South constituency can be obtained from the Blackpool Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www. drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams
	The Government is working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the 'futurebuilders' fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk
	This year, 2005, is the year of the volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Departmental Polices

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the constituency, the effects of his Department's policy since 1997 on Dudley, North constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Dudley, North constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the West Midlands Police Force increased by 895 from 7,113 to 8,008. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 134 CSOs on West Midlands streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, West Midlands has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 35 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 28 per cent.
	West Midlands Police Force is receiving £426.5 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 6.81 per cent. (£27.2 million) over this year. West Midlands also gains around £0.8 million from the Amending Report for 2003–04, bringing the overall increase to 7.0 per cent. General grants funding to West Midlands has increased by 34 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, West Midlands will also receive around £29 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. Four CCTV projects in the Dudley CDRP area as a whole received a total of £286,459 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £1.6 million has been allocated to the Dudley CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.03 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the West Midlands for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Dudley set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction Website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Dudley a total of 29 antisocial behaviour orders are currently in force as of 9 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and its policy is set out in the 10-year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focusing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Dudley has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Dudley Drug Action Team amounted to £1.9 million, rising to £2.4 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Dudley, North constituency can be obtained from the Dudley Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams .
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. For 2003–04 to 2005–06 Dudley Racial Equality Council is receiving a £291,431 Connecting Communities Grant from the Home Office to improve the access of black and ethnic minority people to jobs and services.
	Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the 'futurebuilders' fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Polices

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency, the effects on Preseli Pembrokeshire of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Dyfed-Powys Police Force increased by 160 from 1,005 to 1,165. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 11 CSOs on Dyfed-Powys streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, Dyfed-Powys has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of three per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of two per cent.
	Dyfed-Powys Police Force is receiving £52.2 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£1.9 million) over 2004–05. Dyfed-Powys benefits from the decision to provide a funding floor of 3.75 per cent. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, the Force would have received £1.3 million less. General grants funding to Dyfed-Powys has increased by 24 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Dyfed-Powys will also receive around £6 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. Two CCTV projects in the Pembrokeshire CDRP area received a total of £234,900 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime Safety Partnerships (CSPs, formerly CDRPs) in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £496,631 has been allocated to Pembrokeshire CSP under these initiatives. A further £1.42 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the National Assembly for CSP capacity building across Wales.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Pembrokeshire set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction Website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Pembrokeshire a total of 11 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the futurebuilders fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org.
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Polices

Martin Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Reading, west constituency, the effects on Reading, west of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Reading west constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Thames Valley police force increased by 408 from 3695 to 4103. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 18 CSOs on Thames Valley streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, Thames Valley police force area has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 11 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 29 per cent.
	Thames Valley police will receive £220.6 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£7.9million) over last year. Thames Valley benefits from the decision to provide a funding floor of 3.75 per cent. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, the force would have received £4.1 million less. General grants funding to Thames Valley has increased by 28.9 per cent. between 1997–08 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Thames Valley will also receive around £23.8million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The crime reduction programme (CRP) was a pioneering Government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. One CCTV project in the Reading CDRP area received a total of £749,500 from the CRP and one CCTV project in the west Berkshire CDRP area (which includes part of the Reading west constituency) received a total of £16,500 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 crime and disorder reduction partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include communities against drugs, the safer communities initiative, the small retailers in deprived areas scheme and the building safer communities fund. Since 2001, a total of £1.56 million has been allocated to Reading CDRP and £587,626 to west Berkshire CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.57 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the south east for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a prolific and other priority offenders (PPO) scheme in Reading and in west Berkshire set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's crime reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Reading a total of 12 antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been issued and in west Berkshire a total of four ASBOs have been issued as of 17 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	Tackling drug misuse is a priority of this Government and its policy is set out in the 10 year national drug strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the updated drug strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focussing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Reading and west Berkshire has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the drugs intervention programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for reading drug action team amounted to £1.71 million, rising to £2.01 million in 2004–05. For west Berkshire drug action team, the 2003–04 allocation amounted to £597,102, rising to £729,165 in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Reading west constituency can be obtained from the Reading drug action team and west Berkshire drug action team for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by £1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the 'futurebuilders' fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	Investment is also being made in voluntary and community sector infrastructure under the ChangeUp Scheme, so that frontline groups and organisations can access the support and expertise they need to improve and expand. £100,000 has been made available to the Reading area and £100,000 has been made available to the west Berkshire area in 2005 to take forward this work.
	Reading borough council also participates in the south east community cohesion learning network which is managed by the Government Office for the south east. The network is made up of representatives from 16 south east community cohesion priority areas including local authority officers, the police, and other regional organisations with an interest in community cohesion. The network facilitates the sharing of information, learning and good practice on community cohesion issues in the region.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–2008, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Polices

Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Wokingham constituency, the effects on Wokingham of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government has put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Wokingham constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Thames Valley Police Force increased by 408 from 3,695 to 4,103. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 18 CSOs on Thames Valley streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, the Thames Valley Police Force area has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 11 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 29 per cent.
	Thames Valley Police will receive £220.6 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£7.9million) over 2004–05. Thames Valley benefits from the decision to provide a funding floor of 3.75 per cent. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, the force would have received £4.1 million less. General grants funding to Thames Valley has increased by 28.9 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Thames Valley will also receive around £23.8 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The crime reduction programme (CRP) was a pioneering Government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. One CCTV project in West Berkshire CDRP (which includes part of Wokingham constituency) received a total of £16,500 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 crime and disorder reduction partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £774,136 has been allocated to Wokingham CDRP and £587,626 to West Berkshire CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.57 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the south-east for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Wokingham and West Berkshire set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction Website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. Two antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in Wokingham and four in West Berkshire as of 17 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www. together.gov.uk/authority.asp
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and its policy is set out in the 10 year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government has invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focussing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Wokingham and West Berkshire have seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Wokingham Drug Action Team amounted to £568,685, rising to £693,422 in 2004–05. For West Berkshire Drug Action Team, the 2003–04 allocation amounted to £597,102, rising to £729,165 in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Wokingham constituency can be obtained from the Wokingham Drug Action Team and West Berkshire Drug Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams
	The Government is working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the 'futurebuilders' fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk
	Investment is also being made in voluntary and community sector infrastructure under the ChangeUp Scheme, so that frontline groups and organisations can access the support and expertise they need to improve and expand. £100,000 has been made available to the Wokingham area in 2005 to take forward this area of work. Further information on the aims of ChangeUp can be found on the Home Office Website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/active/developing/index.html
	This year, 2005, is the year of the volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at http://www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Kimberley Quinn

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he requested that a policeman be stationed outside Kimberley Quinn's home.

Charles Clarke: I have not issued any instructions surrounding this matter. My right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary, Member for Sheffield Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) has stated that he too did not issue operational instructions to the Met Police and has never had a conversation about this with them.

Licensing Act

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted under (i) section 172, (ii) section 172A and (iii) section 173 of the Licensing Act 1964 in each year since 1997; how many landlords have had their licences revoked due to breach of these provisions; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Statistics from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database on the number of people prosecuted and convicted under sections 172, 172A and 173 of the Licensing Act 1964, England and Wales, 1997–2003 is contained in the following table.
	Statistics for 2004 will be available in the autumn.
	No central data are available on the reasons why a justices' licence is revoked by the licensing justices. Statistics on revocations are also only collected triennially. The numbers of revocations since 1997 is therefore as follows.
	
		Number of persons proceeded against and found guilty at magistrates courts for certain offences under the Licensing Act 1964, England and Wales, 1997–2003(15)
		
			   1997 1998 
			 Offence description Statute Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 Permitting drunkenness or riotous conduct on the premises or selling liquor to a drunken person Licensing Act 1964 s.172 9 4 22 11 
			   
			 Relevant person working in licensed premises to permit drunkenness or violent behaviour etc. Licensing Act 1964 s.172A as added by Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 s.32 — — — — 
			   
			 Person in licensed premises procuring intoxicating liquor for a drunken person or aiding a drunken person to obtain drink Licensing Act 1964 s.173 3 2 5 3 
		
	
	
		
			   1999 2000 
			 Offence description Statute Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 Permitting drunkenness or riotous conduct on the premises or selling liquor to a drunken person Licensing Act 1964 s.172 13 10 10 2 
			   
			 Relevant person working in licensed premises to permit drunkenness or violent behaviour etc. Licensing Act 1964 s.172A as added by Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 s.32 — — — — 
			   
			 Person in licensed premises procuring intoxicating liquor for a drunken person or aiding a drunken person to obtain drink Licensing Act 1964 s.173 2 1 — — 
		
	
	
		
			   2001 2002 2003 
			 Offence description Statute Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 Permitting drunkenness or riotous conduct on the premises or selling liquor to a drunken person Licensing Act 1964 s.172 10 5 7 4 8 6 
			 
			 Relevant person working in licensed premises to permit drunkenness or violent behaviour etc. Licensing Act 1964 s.172A as added by Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 s.32 — — 1 — — — 
			 
			 Person in licensed premises procuring intoxicating liquor for a drunken person or aiding a drunken person to obtain drink Licensing Act 1964 s.173 — — 1 — 1 — 
		
	
	(15) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	
		Number of justices' licences revoked in England and Wales, 1998, 2001 and 2004
		
			   Licensed 
			 Year to 30 June Public house etc. Restaurants Residential Combined restaurant and residential Licensed clubs Total on Total off Total on and off 
		
		
			 1998 165 34 6 2 8 215 102 378 
			 2001 99 21 8 1 3 132 51 183 
			 2004 186 50 18 8 11 273 81 354 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Culture, Media and Sport

Litherland House

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide an account of expenditure on Litherland house, Bootle, since the start of his Department's occupancy.

Fiona Mactaggart: Home Office Pay and Pensions Service took occupation of Litherland house in June 1998. The following table details the combined rent and service charges that have been paid by the Department in each financial year since occupation. The figures quoted do not include capital expenditure or other costs such as furniture and staffing.
	
		Litherland house—combined rent and building service costs
		
			 Financial year Cost (£) 
		
		
			 1998–99 198,101.54 
			 1999–2000 360,263.55 
			 2000–01 338,974.83 
			 2001–02 497,031.46 
			 2002–03 419,447.27 
			 2003–04 553,630.50 
			 2004-January 2005 366,626.00 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures reflect the dates that rent and service charge invoices were actually levied and paid.
	2. There is an outstanding invoice for £35,000 (relating to the 2002–03 year) which is currently in dispute.
	3. On 1 April 2002, additional space was rented in Litherland house as well as training facilities within The Triad office complex in Stanley road. The Triad accommodation is charged to the Litherland house budget.
	4. HOPPS leased further accommodation in India buildings, in June 2004. This is charged to the Litherland house budget.

Ministerial Residence

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of maintenance of his official residence was in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: The costs of maintenance were as follows:
	
		
			  Maintenance (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 2,581 
			 1998–99 14,849 
			 1999–2000 2,055 
			 2000–01 6,457 
			 2001–02 1,386 
			 2002–03 (16)37,338 
			 2003–04 877 
			 2004–05 (17)3,130 
		
	
	(16) Includes roof works of £12,342
	(17) to date
	Note:
	All costs exclude VAT as this is recoverable

Police

Tony Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether ethnic background is a factor taken into account when allocating training places to candidates who have been selected for the Metropolitan police.

Hazel Blears: In allocating training places at Hendon, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) tries to ensure that as far as possible every course intake has a diverse range of recruits taking account of gender and ethnicity. This is in response to their commitment to build a workforce which is more representative of the communities they serve.

Police

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) uniformed officers and (b) civilian staff there were in each police authority area in the North East region at (i) 31 March 2003 and (ii) 31 March 2004; and what these figures are per head of police authority population.

Hazel Blears: The latest information on police service strength was published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 13/04, 'Police Service Strength England and Wales, 31 March 2004'.
	The available information for the North East Region is given in the table:
	
		Number
		
			  Police officers Police staff Community support officers Traffic wardens 
			  2003 1 2004 1 2003 1 2004 1 2003 1 2004 1 2003 1 2004 1 
		
		
			 Cleveland 1,592 1,697 694 764 37 77 7 8 
			 Durham 1,662 1,701 602 600 10 28 15 4 
			 Northumbria 4,018 4,061 1,457 1,495 0 51 59 56 
			 North East Region 7,272 7,459 2,754 2,859 47 155 81 68 
			  
			 Per 100,000 population 
			 Cleveland 294 314 128 141 7 14 1 1 
			 Durham 281 288 102 102 2 5 2 1 
			 Northumbria 290 294 105 108 0 4 4 4 
			 North East Region 289 297 109 114 2 6 3 3 
		
	
	(18) As at 31 March each year.

Police Finance

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the financial settlement for the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority was in each year between 1995–06 and 2004–05.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 31 January 2005
	The information is set out in the table.
	
		
			£ million 
			  General government grants(19) Specific grants and capital provision(20) Total 
		
		
			 1995–96 122.9 3.6 126.5 
			 1996–97 129.3 2.7 132.0 
			 1997–98 133.0 2.7 135.7 
			 1998–99 141.1 4.0 145.1 
			 1999–2000 146.7 2.5 149.2 
			 2000–01 150.2 5.8 156.0 
			 2001–02 156.9 15.4 172.3 
			 2001–02(21) 152.8 15.4 168.2 
			 2002–03 156.7 16.9 173.6 
			 2003–04 161.5 17.6 179.1 
			 2004–05 166.7 18.8 185.5 
		
	
	(19) General government grants comprise Home Office police grant, ODPM revenue support grant and national non-domestic rates.
	(20) Includes funding from the crime fighting fund, rural policing fund, basic command unit funding, community support officer funding, special priority payments, the DNA expansion programme, capital provision, Airwave and the premises improvement fund.
	(21) Figures for 2001–02 are not directly comparable with 2002–03 due to the change in funding arrangements of NCS/NCIS. Adjusted (lower) figures for 2001–02 are therefore included for future comparison.

Police Vehicle Collisions

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on repairing police vehicles following collisions in London in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by basic command unit; and how many injuries resulted from a police collision in London in each year.

Hazel Blears: This is a matter for the Commissioner. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member and place a copy in the Library.

Police/Media

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has given to police officers on briefing the media when a person is (a) arrested and (b) detained in custody.

Hazel Blears: The Media Advisory Group of the Association of Chief Police Officers publish guidance notes on media handling in a range of operational situations. The notes aim to encourage consistency of practice by police forces but are issued only for their guidance. It is a matter for individual chief constables, in conjunction with their media advisers, to decide whether, and how, the notes should be implemented. The guidance notes are set out on http://www. acpo.police.uk/asp/policies/policieslist.asp, including Guidance Note 2 on individuals under investigation.

Policing

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much Government funding has been spent on policing in Morecambe and Lunesdale in each of the last 10 years.

Hazel Blears: Central Government support to Lancashire constabulary is set out in the table. It is a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Authority to determine its final annual budget and decide how to deploy the available resources across the force area. The Chief Constable informs me that details of spending in Morecambe and Lunesdale are not available.
	
		
			  General government grants(22) (£ million) Annual percentage change in general government grants Specific grants and capital provision(23) (£ million) 
		
		
			 1997–98 146.9 — 2.2 
			 1998–99 153.6 4.6 2.4 
			 1999–00 155.9 1.5 2.2 
			 2000–01 162.2 4.0 6.6 
			 2001–02 168.1 3.6 18.2 
			 2001 -02(24) 164.0 — 18.2 
			 2002–03 168.7 2.9 15.1 
			 2003–04 177.1 4.9 15.4 
			 2004–05 182.9 3.3 15.8 
			 2005–06 190.8 4.3 17.4 
		
	
	(22) General government grants comprise Home Office Police grant, ODPM Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates.
	(23) Includes funding from the Crime Fighting Fund, Rural Policing Fund, Basic Command Unit funding, Street Crime Initiative, Community Support Officer funding, Special Priority Payments, the DNA Expansion Programme, capital grant, Airwave and the Premises Improvement Fund. Total for specific grants in 2005–06 are an estimate.
	(24) Figures for 2001–02 are not directly comparable with 2002–03 due to the change in funding arrangements of NCS/NCIS. Adjusted figures for 2001–02 are therefore included.

Policing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been spent on policing per head of population in each police force in England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The information is set out in the following table.
	Government funding for police authorities is chiefly allocated using a funding formula that distributes resources on the basis of relative policing need. The formula is currently being reviewed to ensure it reflects modern policing needs. Funding is not, and never has been, distributed on a per capita basis.
	
		Net revenue expenditure(25) per head of population(26)
		
			 Force 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 104.33 110.89 117.93 122.06 126.78 129.71 145.43 153.42 
			 Bedfordshire 107.34 112.57 115.18 119.94 125.80 128.33 138.11 145.50 
			 Cambridgeshire 98.98 104.42 105.37 110.52 116.43 124.35 139.64 148.06 
			 Cheshire 106.33 109.28 115.34 116.95 123.96 126.96 145.92 144.27 
			 Cleveland 134.89 145.77 153.38 159.04 164.11 173.22 191.42 202.16 
			 Cumbria 125.87 127.47 131.65 136.72 143.55 147.95 163.48 175.23 
			 Derbyshire 99.85 104.02 109.37 114.52 120.10 126.41 138.90 145.29 
			 Devon and Cornwall 100.84 107.83 112.83 117.00 121.76 125.03 139.75 146.58 
			 Dorset 102.74 107.22 111.93 117.42 122.60 125.86 137.81 146.02 
			 Durham 123.70 122.79 130.95 138.18 144.48 147.06 161.83 170.56 
			 Dyfed-Powys 107.14 104.98 117.18 123.12 130.83 135.37 147.44 155.85 
			 Essex(27) 104.59 103.58 110.29 114.03 120.45 121.84 131.64 136.88 
			 Gloucestershire 106.08 113.00 117.57 123.00 128.52 132.76 153.72 162.31 
			 Greater Manchester 137.04 137.51 145.73 152.76 159.54 160.60 181.60 186.56 
			 Gwent 116.12 121.64 127.19 136.62 144.95 151.40 166.47 177.23 
			 Hampshire 103.80 106.49 112.04 115.54 121.40 127.41 139.25 146.11 
			 Hertfordshire(27) 108.34 110.12 119.83 120.01 124.73 126.28 138.33 147.40 
			 Humberside 119.46 126.95 128.79 134.64 145.43 149.42 163.38 172.78 
			 Kent 112.30 112.74 118.94 122.76 130.41 134.31 147.41 154.67 
			 Lancashire 118.70 124.46 127.71 133.23 138.91 141.33 153.13 161.01 
			 Leicestershire 107.03 110.83 115.46 118.59 124.55 130.59 140.69 147.86 
			 Lincolnshire 108.17 108.24 112.01 116.51 120.99 121.56 125.26J 129.37 
			 Merseyside 157.18 169.15 175.75 180.05 188.84 191.38 207.73 216.65 
			 Metropolitan 223.68 226.91 241.48 260.68 285.90 298.07 307.46 318.92 
			 Norfolk 103.87 103.66 111.34 115.84 123.58 129.81 142.28 151.12 
			 Northamptonshire 107.80 110.96 113.30 119.76 126.59 134.84 134.89 151.63 
			 Northumbria 135.64 143.08 148.73 153.18 160.46 161.66 174.33 180.77 
			 North Wales 107.93 101.51 119.97 127.80 136.00 142.09 157.70 172.44 
			 North Yorkshire 98.33 102.55 105.99 111.05 116.87 125.60 152.09 161.52 
			 Nottinghamshire 116.82 123.11 125.43 129.70 135.82 140.83 155.70 161.99 
			 South Wales 129.83 130.60 137.45 144.59 152.12 156.53 171.58 180.18 
			 South Yorkshire 127.34 128.12 134.92 137.77 143.72 147.04 163.61 170.89 
			 Staffordshire 104.37 110.10 119.78 119.67 126.60 129.24 142.31 149.95 
			 Suffolk 96.95 99.90 105.77 109.23 116.29 121.05 133.94 140.82 
			 Surrey(27) 117.35 117.72 127.61 119.23 113.53 123.97 140.85 148.95 
			 Sussex 107.79 109.94 111.32 116.43 121.37 124.67 141.19 147.77 
			 Thames Valley 102.73 101.49 108.84 113.55 119.14 121.84 139.69 148.37 
			 Warwickshire 102.28 103.91 109.54 116.51 123.37 129.00 138.85 144.12 
			 West Mercia 96.74 101.76 98.95 110.60 116.80 125.93 133.31 141.97 
			 West Midlands 136.56 139.49 145.02 150.20 156.38 158.65 172.72 178.82 
			 West Yorkshire 133.80 131.79 135.58 142.66 148.49 152.68 166.13 174.09 
			 Wiltshire 99.11 115.99 116.49 118.85 123.94 126.44 136.60 143.12 
		
	
	(25) Source of expenditure information: CIPFA Police Statistics—actuals 1997–98 to 2002–03 and estimates 2003–04; for 2004–05 net budget requirements submitted by authorities to Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and to the Welsh Assembly Government.
	(26) Source for resident population figures: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Welsh Assembly Government, as used for police funding settlements.
	(27) Population numbers affected by associated changes in boundaries of the Metropolitan police district in April 2000.

Prisons

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost was in the last year of a place in each prison in (a) the Prison Estate and (b) privately run prison establishments; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The average cost per place for each Prison Service and privately run establishment for the financial year 2003–04 is listed in the tables. These figures are not directly comparable since prisons vary widely in a number of factors which impact on costs such as the type of prison, category of security, levels of crowding, facilities and layout, location and the age of establishment.
	
		A. Prison service establishments
		
			 Establishment Cost per place (£) 
		
		
			 Acklington 18,116 
			 Albany 21,259 
			 Ashwell 18,644 
			 Askham Grange 24,564 
			 Aylesbury 30,000 
			 Bedford 32,594 
			 Belmarsh 44,331 
			 Birmingham 28,605 
			 Blakenhurst 22,138 
			 Blantyre House 22,987 
			 Blundeston 27,849 
			 Brinsford 30,859 
			 Bristol 41,048 
			 Brixton 33,244 
			 Brockhill 43,767 
			 Buckley Hall 25,014 
			 Bullingdon 24,756 
			 Bullwood Hall 41,877 
			 Camp Hill 22,934 
			 Canterbury 35,204 
			 Cardiff 29,900 
			 Castington 33,703 
			 Channings Wood 21,775 
			 Chelmsford 31,342 
			 Coldingley 24,671 
			 Cookham Wood 37,698 
			 Dartmoor 22,182 
			 Deerbolt 24,982 
			 Dorchester 46,779 
			 Dover 27,012 
			 Downview 29,185 
			 Drake Hall 23,722 
			 Durham 40,353 
			 East Sutton Park 27,378 
			 Eastwood Park 31,621 
			 Edmunds Hill 26,966 
			 Elmley 21,417 
			 Erlestoke 19,522 
			 Everthorpe 21,038 
			 Exeter 38,715 
			 Featherstone 22,842 
			 Feltham 43,209 
			 Ford 14,328 
			 Foston Hall 28,852 
			 Frankland 44,603 
			 Full Sutton 44,316 
			 Garth 23,093 
			 Gartree 26,992 
			 Glen Parva 28,574 
			 Gloucester 39,295 
			 Grendon 24,163 
			 Guys Marsh 19,796 
			 Haslar 26,154 
			 Haverigg 20,230 
			 Hewell Grange 20,844 
			 High Down 28,263 
			 Highpoint 18,850 
			 Hindley 34,577 
			 Hollesley Bay 21,093 
			 Holloway 45,461 
			 Holme House 22,994 
			 Hull 26,807 
			 Huntercombe 38,011 
			 Kingston 27,871 
			 Kirkham 21,105 
			 Kirklevington 17,021 
			 Lancaster 41,263 
			 Lancaster Farms 31,227 
			 Latchmere House 19,366 
			 Leeds 32,001 
			 Leicester 45,381 
			 Lewes 25,054 
			 Leyhill 19,997 
			 Lincoln 31,276 
			 Lindholme 22,577 
			 Littlehey 18,248 
			 Liverpool 24,459 
			 Long Lartin 36,387 
			 Low Newton 29,507 
			 Maidstone 20,875 
			 Manchester 29,607 
			 Moorland 22,200 
			 Morton Hall 22,248 
			 Mount 20,034 
			 New Hall 40,449 
			 North Sea Camp 15,034 
			 Northallerton 39,046 
			 Norwich 30,082 
			 Nottingham 32,086 
			 Onley 24,791 
			 Parkhurst 32,194 
			 Pentonville 29,595 
			 Portland 24,579 
			 Preston 36,184 
			 Ranby 22,190 
			 Reading 43,345 
			 Risley 19,916 
			 Rochester 23,124 
			 Send 27,613 
			 Shepton Mallet 34,542 
			 Shrewsbury 42,890 
			 Stafford 20,664 
			 Standford Hill 18,182 
			 Stocken 18,964 
			 Stoke Heath 30,410 
			 Styal 32,065 
			 Sudbury 15,896 
			 Swaleside 19,583 
			 Swansea 41,215 
			 Swinfen Hall 27,683 
			 Thorn Cross 25,573 
			 Usk·Prescoed 25,783 
			 Verne 18,738 
			 Wakefield 29,128 
			 Wandsworth 27,437 
			 Warren Hill 43,382 
			 Wayland 17,659 
			 Wealstun 20,876 
			 Weare 21,158 
			 Wellingborough 20,209 
			 Wellington 43,564 
			 Wetherby 32,621 
			 Whatton 20,592 
			 Whitemoor 49,885 
			 Winchester 34,185 
			 Woodhill 39,035 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 24,739 
			 Wymott 20,901 
		
	
	
		B. Privately run establishments1,2
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Altcourse 50,747 
			 Ashfield 32,041 
			 Doncaster 24,769 
			 Dovegate 25,916 
			 Forest Bank 26,080 
			 Lowdham 24,499 
			 Pare 39,645 
			 Rye Hill 23,671 
			 Wolds 21,861 
		
	
	(28) The costs for private prisons1 excludes capital charges (Cost of Capital, Cost of Capital Credit and Depreciation), making the figures comparable with the public prison service.
	(29) HMP Bronzefield, a privately run prison, opened in June 2004 and is therefore excluded from this data.

Prisons

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the incidence of smoking in prisons in England and Wales was in the last period for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 21 February 2005
	This information is not routinely collected. In 1999 the report by the Office for National Statistics "Substance Misuse Among Prisoners in England and Wales" recorded that 78 per cent. of male sentenced, 85 per cent. of male remand, 81 per cent. of female sentenced and 83 per cent. of female remand prisoners were current smokers.

Prisons

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the policy of the Government are in relation to prisoners who do not wish to be exposed to the effects of passive smoking in their cells.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 21 February 2005
	Each prison develops its own "no smoking" policy in line with current health and safety advice and taking into account the type of establishment it is, its population and the special needs of that population. Wherever possible prisoners should not be required to share accommodation with a smoker if they so request.

Staff Custody Officers

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training arrangements are proposed for designated officers to act as staff custody officers in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill.

Hazel Blears: The training arrangements for the post of custody officer will be identical to those undertaken by a police sergeant, fulfilling the role.
	Although Centrex have developed a national training programme for custody officers there is no formal qualification required before a police officer can take on the role of custody sergeant. It will remain a matter for individual force policy on training required before the appointment of police officers and police staff to this role.
	National Occupational Standards for the Police Sector developed by Skills for Justice set out the competencies and skills required for authorising and managing police detention and form an Integrated Competency Framework. In terms of the custody officer, the competency framework focuses on the key areas of making detention decisions; managing the detention of individuals; and authorising and reviewing continued detention.
	In addition, further work is under way with stakeholders and the National Centre for Policing Excellence on developing guidance on how these standards are to be achieved. This will be issued for consultation later this year and published in January 2006. Combined with the competency framework, we will have in place definitive standards for both police and police staff employed in the custody suite

Violent Crime (Northumbria)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent offences involving (a) violence against the person, (b) sexual offences and (c) robbery there were in each basic command unit of Northumbria police force area in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2003–04.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is available on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice. gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/bcu2.xls

Worcester

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Worcester constituency, the effects on Worcester of changes to his Department's policy since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Worcester constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the West Mercia Police Force increased by 325 from 2,040 to 2,365. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 67 CSOs on West Mercia streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, West Mercia has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 10 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 36 per cent.
	West Mercia Police Force is receiving £111.8 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£4.1 million) over this year. West Mercia benefits from the decision to provide a funding floor of 3.75 per cent. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, the Force would have received £2.5 million less. General grants funding to West Mercia has increased by 27 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, West Mercia will also receive around £10 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering Government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. One CCTV project in the Worcester CDRP area received a total of £643,832 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £446,583 has been allocated to the Worcester CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.03 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the West Midlands for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Worcester set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's Crime Reduction Website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Worcester a total of 28 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of 9 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and its policy is set out in the 10-year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focusing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Worcestershire has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Worcestershire Drug Action Team amounted to £2.5 million, rising to £1.5 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Worcester constituency can be obtained from the Worcestershire Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the 'futurebuilders' fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.